December 11, 2006

Drowning...

My swim coach didn't exactly say that, but she could have summarized her critique of my observed dolphin-like prowess, or not, with that simple statement.

Now, to her credit, and mine, she did recognize that I have incredible potential to compete with the likes of the Thorpedo.

"You move well through the water..."

And that was as positive as she could be...

She then told me, over the course of 45 or so minutes, the slight position changes that I could make that would make me go from a struggling 2 minute 100 yard swim x 1 to a slick, shark-like beast with sub 50 minute ironman swims. Oh, wait... That was what I dreamed last night she told me...

But let's get back to reality...

So on my first session with her today, my coach told me, in no specific order of importance, that I would do great if I could just do the following:

I think that if you didn't swim as a youngster, that it is 2x as hard to learn as an adult. But I see adults learning it all the time, and then being actually really good at it.Be patient - you will get it. It's all technique. Just do what your coach tells you and one piece at a time, you will get it and then it will seem like 2nd nature.Ask her to video-tape you doing laps. When you watch yourself, you understand exactly what she is trying to describe to you that you are doing right (or wrong).One tip that helped me be more fluid was to pretend I was swimming through a toilet paper tube - you can roll all you want to breathe on the sides, but stay in the tube - no hips swaying back and forth bumping the sides of your tube. Roll your hips with the rest of your body. You'll be kicking on your side at times, but that's OK as long as you stay in your tube.Good luck!